One of my favourite composers is Maurice Ravel.  I love his intricately imaginative harmonies and beautiful colours and most especially his evocative scene setting.  Alborada del Gracioso is one of his most stunning big orchestral pieces and it always takes me straight to sunny Spain on a day when the rising heat makes everything quivery.  This week I am lucky enough to be working on two of his pieces, one of which has been a firm favourite since I first performed it at an outdoor concert on a wine farm near Cape Town some twenty years ago, Le Tombeau de Couperin.  Each movement is dedicated to a friend who died in the war, and he was criticised for composing what was referred to as a light-hearted and reflective work rather than a sombre requiem-like suite of pieces.  His reply to this was "The dead are sad enough, in their eternal silence". I love how his music is poignant, emotional and celebratory and I would have been VERY happy to have been his friend!

Ravel writes beautifully and incredibly well for the harp, and he had a deep understanding of the instrument.  Everything just fits and feels comfortable to play and I love his crystalline sound world.  Whenever I read his music I find it reassuring, the familiarity of the print and the size and shape of the notes.

Today would have been my Dad's 86th birthday and I am celebrating him and he will be firmly in my thoughts as I perform Tombeau - he would have loved this piece!